Youth and chaperones travel the country to help others

Although summer is traditionally a time for students and their parents to relax, play sports and enjoy vacation days, hundreds of Catholic young people around the diocese and their adult chaperones are spending at least one week this summer helping others at a Catholic HEART Workcamp (CHWC) and working with other organizations as well.

The Springfield in Illinois Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (SDCCW) has awarded $500 scholarships to four young women, all recent high school graduates. The annual awards are given to those who best exemplify the values of DCCW by bringing spirituality, leadership and service to their school, parish and community.

EFFINGHAM — Later this month, in a long-time annual tradition, Effingham County Right to Life will host Crossroads Walkers — college-age people who are walking coast to coast to defend life.

The Crossroads Walkers are made up of several groups of young people who walk from the West Coast to Washington, D.C., all the while wearing T-shirts with Pro-Life written on them in large letters. The T-shirts both identify them and call attention to their cause.

For 20 years, walkers have been speaking at parishes, talking to the media and with others they meet along the way. They also attend Mass on a regular basis and peacefully pray outside of abortion clinics.

The group that will stop in Effingham are known as the "central" walkers. They left California on May 24 and will be in Washington on Aug. 16 for a pro-life rally at the Capitol. Walks are also held in several other countries as well.

The dinner in Effingham will be held in the Sacred Heart Parish Center and will be attended by the walkers, their host families, members of the Effingham Right to Life group and several priests, says Loretta (Mrs. Jack) Koester, a long-time leader of that area's Right to Life organization.

"They will arrive here on Tuesday, July 22 and we will host a dinner for them along with the host families," says Koester. "After dinner the students will have the opportunity to share some of their experiences before leaving for a good night's rest. Early the next day they will continue their journey across America to help bring about the culture of life."

Koester says she and one her daughters came across the group by accident many years ago. "We just happened to be going home and went by the church. We saw their van and so we went in to see what was going on. They were in there praying. We talked to them and I told them, 'Next year you will be our guests.' They've been coming back ever since.

"We get the food from a local restaurant and I make the pies, which they always seem to like," Koester says. "In all my 40 years of working for Right for Life, I can honestly say that the night those Crossroads Walkers come is always my favorite night of the year."

The walkers spend the night with a local host and then attend early morning Mass, eat breakfast and continue on their trip. Although the group is walking, they have a van that travels with them for safety purposes, says Koester.

"Think about it. Those young people give up their entire summer in order to defend life," Koester says. "You have to admire them. They are walking all that way and it is so hot. They are just a wonderful group."

For more information about the Crossroad Walkers go to the website www.crossroadswalk.org.

Youth from the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois who are interested in music or becoming more active in their parish are invited to take part in The Journey Retreat at Christ the King Parish at 1930 Barberry Drive in Springfield. The retreat, given by Note the Way ministry on Saturday, July 19, begins at 8 a.m. and concludes after 4:30 p.m. Mass. All retreat participants will be singing during the liturgy before going home for the day.

On Saturday, June 21 the Springfield in Illinois Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (SDCCW) presented the third annual Our Lady of Good Counsel Women of Distinction Award to 58 women. About 500 people were in the pews as Bishop Thomas John Paprocki celebrated the 10 a.m. Mass, which was followed by a luncheon at Northfield Inn and Conference Center.

Twenty-three central Illinois organizations that benefit people living in poverty have received grants from the Diocesan Campaign for Justice and Hope (DCJH) sponsored by the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. The awards were given out by Bishop Thomas John Paprocki during a luncheon June 2 at the Catholic Pastoral Center in Springfield. Sister Jane Boos, SSND, director of the Office for Social Concerns and Respect for Life, and her staff hosted the luncheon and announced the awards.

VIRDEN — Sacred Heart Parish in Virden is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2014. The opening events for the centennial year will be held on Sunday, June 29. Father David Hoefler, vicar general for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, will celebrate the 10:30 a.m. Mass at the church, located at 722 N. Springfield St. Dinner will follow at noon at the Knights of Columbus Hall at 1320 N. Dye St.

Parishioners, faculty members, parents and students at Christ the King Parish and School have been honoring retiring principal, Jeanine Kolb, by dedicating the school library in her name and by wishing her a fond farewell.

An anonymous donor has initiated an educational endowment fund for Cathedral School in honor of former Cathedral principal Sister Maristella Dunlavy, OP. The donor will match new funds received dollar to dollar up to $50,000, said Father John Nolan, pastor of Cathedral Parish. “We would like to honor Sister by raising $100,000 or more,” he said.

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was crowded with well-wishers on Saturday, May 24 as Bishop Thomas John Paprocki ordained Father Steven Michael Arisman and Father Seth Andrew Brown to the diocesan priesthood.